Imagine two competing products. Both have a similar specification and quality, similar price and availability, but one has robust ‘green’ credentials, the other hasn’t. Which one will sell better?
Manufacturing a product with such credible sustainability credentials has numerous benefits:
- It could have lower production costs due to better efficiency
- It could command a higher price point
- It will enhance the manufacturer’s image and reputation
- It will appeal to a larger number of customers.
In considering this, for most businesses the first call is the packaging, as that is the consumers’ first contact with the product. Minimising the amount of packaging used is the first step, followed by using a recycled and/or recyclable product for the packaging is the obvious first step, but this can be a complicated area, depending on the product requirements. You may have a choice between a low carbon material that cannot be recycled, or a high carbon product which can be.
Moving to the product itself, how can you make it ‘greener’? You might to do one or many of the following:
- Use low carbon energy to produce it.
- Source the raw materials as locally as possible
- Minimise waste generation during production
- Manufacture it from lower embodied carbon materials
- Make it lighter
- Make it last longer
- Make it user repairable, and supply spare parts
- If it needs energy to work, make it as energy efficient as possible
- Consider what will happen at the end of it’s life. Can it be disassembled in order for its component parts can be recycled.
Of course, if you do this you’ll want to talk about it, so you’ll want to quantify the environmental benefits in a way that is robust, transparent and credible.
Some of the above may require a complete re-design, so it’s not necessarily a quick or easy process, but should be seen as part of the natural evolution of a product, and as a means of keeping at the forefront of product development.